Today I exited my comfort zone for the first time in a while.
I’ve just recorded my first contributions to our local radio station Sedgemoor
FM here in sunny Somerset.
I was terrified!
Which is completely daft given that I have spent most of my
life in jobs that involve A) talking and B) an audience. I’ve been a lawyer, a
teacher, a group facilitator, an actor
for goodness sake!! And I’ve been interviewed on Radio several times and
loved it
.
So what was so scary about actually presenting part of a
show? I’m still not entirely sure. There’s the simple wee bit about doing
something different when you’re embracing your middle age and think perhaps you’ve
got all your skill set pretty much fixed. And you realise that your comfort
zone has become a cosy-zone and you don’t need to come out.
Perhaps there’s a wee bit of writer’s isolation going on. I
spend so much time in my own head, listening to the voices of my characters, or
working out plots, or typing at my desk, alone and quiet, sharing my thoughts
in text, that perhaps the idea of relying on my voice has become alien to me.
And there was a very big bit of technological terror. Ben
McGrail, a presenter at BBC Radio Somerset, was kind enough to let me hang out
in his studio a couple of weeks ago while his show was going out live. He works
so hard! There are screens everywhere, buttons everywhere, messages coming in
from his producer, texts, tweets, Facebook messages and phonecalls all going
on.
Of course, the real fear is that you’ll forget you’re on the
radio in someone’s kitchen or wherever and you’ll swear – in front of their children!!
And suddenly your head is full of really inappropriate subjects and rude jokes.
The daftest fear was that I would have nothing to say, at all, about anything,
ever…and anyone who knows me knows how totally ridiculous that is!
Regardless of all this fear, I took myself off to the newly launched
Sedgemoor FM on 104.2 this morning to meet some of the other presenters and
maybe record some stuff. Well, seriously, what was I so worried about? It’s a
neat, professional studio slickly overseen by Dave Englefield who’s had years
in the business. The atmosphere was relaxed and chilled and we had fun! Phew!
Okay, so I’m still a wee bit worried that I’ll sound like a
rambling idiot – but d’you know – so what? It’s going to be a laugh. I’m
looking forward to growing into my radio shoes. Come and tune in. Or visit on
Facebook or Twitter @sedgemoorfm Tell me how I’m doing…nicely, please.
